There
are a lot of people who are still preoccupied with the phantom pass interference
call against Kenneth Crawley that very well may have sealed the Buffs’ fate
against Oregon St., but the fact of the matter is the team, while infinitely
better than the last few versions, is still making way too many critical
mistakes, often at the most inconvenient times.
Dropped passes, missed tackles, weak line play at times on both sides,
Sefo making the one really bad INT at the worst moment. They cannot afford to make any of these
mistakes against USC if they have a chance, which I think they actually might,
even if it is only a tiny little smidgeon of a chance in the topsy-turvy
unpredictable road teams are 15-4 Pac12.
§ Line: This one opened at 19.5 and
quickly went up, settling around 20, but the Buffs have covered every week they
have been an underdog.
§ Depth Chart moves/Burn the Redshirt: Unless there is a major injury it appears all
redshirts will be kept as even Jay MacIntyre has been taken off the “substitute”
list on the depth chart..
§ Injuries: The Buffs appear to be as
healthy as they have all season with only season ending injuries being listed
as this point. Addison Gillam, Christian Powell and Markeis Reed are all
expected to play.
§ The
Trojans, on the other hand, have been plagued with injuries to an already
depleted roster, but they still have a ton of talent, even on their raw true
frosh.
§ The
USC secondary has taken many hits but most everyone is expected to play.
§ WR
Ajene is not expected to play.
§
When the Buffs have the ball:
§ The
offense has been able to move the ball, eat up clock and put up points, and
they will need to do so in order to compete with the Trojans. Sefo has been better than ever could have
been expected and the Trojan defense has struggled at times against the pass. They are also playing a lot of freshmen. The Buffs can keep it close if they can keep
DE Leonard Williams and do-it-all safety-linebacker Sua Cravens from making too
many plays.
§ WR
Nelson Spruce has to get involved as Oregon St. took him out of the game. He will only open things up for everyone else. Sefo needs to take a few more shots
downfield.
§ The
running game has been okay at times, but outside of the early BC debacle, USC
has been strong against the run and it will be hard for CU to get much
here. They may need to mix it up and try
some trick plays.
§ This
will be the biggest test yet for the o-line, especially the tackles against
Willliams.
When the Trojans have the ball:
§ Javorious “Buck” Allen has been tearing it up
and is putting himself in the Heisman discussion. He killed the Buffs last year and if he does
that again, he will vault up the rankings.
He will get his yards, but the Buffs need to limit his big plays. Addison Gillam and Ken Olugbode, both
returning to their home state, must have good games.
§ Likewise,
the secondary, which has really been the strength of the defense, has to keep
Cody Kessler from going off. Of course, this is also on the defensive line,
which must get some semblance of a pass rush so he doesn’t have time for the
speedy USC receivers to get open, especially Nelson Agholor.
Special Teams:
§ Agholor is also a serious threat on returns
and Oliver needs to get kickoffs deep into the endzone and Darragh needs to
continue pinning opponents deep.
§ Overall, all the stats and talent point to a big USC win and at first
I was tempted to go with a 37-24 loss.
But what the fuck, I am a total homer and even though they have never
beaten Southern Cal (yeah, I had to say it once), if the Buffs come out firing
from the get go, take some chances and completely limit mistakes, they can keep
this road bashing conference streak alive. Buffs 33 Trojans 29 in a crazy
normal game.
§ It’s
a pretty late kickoff, so if you need
some more:
Ralphie
Report: http://www.ralphiereport.com/colorado-buffaloes-usc-trojans/2014/10/17/6990955/buffaloes-trojans-preview
Rumblin’
Preview: http://rumblinbuff.blogspot.com/2014/10/2014-usc-football-preview.html
Plati’s
CU Game Notes: http://www.cubuffs.com/fls/600/gameday/usc14/cunotes.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=600
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